Successful: Both novelist JK Rowling and singer Beyoncé Knowles are firstborn children
A new study has revealed that first born females are more likely to succeed than other children and even first born males.
Researchers have claimed that if you are female and the eldest child
among your siblings then you are likely to be more ambitious.
Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, JK Rowling and Beyoncé are all firstborn children.
They are also according to Forbes among the most powerful women in the world.
The study was carried out by researchers at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the
University of Essex.
It found that if a child is the eldest female then she is most likely to be the most ambitious and
well-qualified of all of her family.
Firstborn boys were next in line for success.
The study also found that
parents were more likely to have high achieving children if they leave a gap of at least four years between each child.
Feifei Bu, who led the study, at the University of Essex
The wider the gap, the greater the chances of higher qualifications.
According to the research, firstborn children were seven per cent more
likely to want to stay on in higher education than their younger
siblings.
Firstborn girls
were 13 per cent more ambitious than firstborn boys.
The probability of attending further education for firstborns is
16
per cent higher than their younger siblings while girls are four per
cent more likely to have further education qualifications.
Feifei Bu, who led the study, said there could be many explanations as to why the eldest has greater ambitions.
Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton (left), Oprah Winfrey (right), JK Rowling and Beyoncé were all firstborn children
One could be that parents simply give more time to them.
She told The Observer: 'It is interesting that we observer a distinct
firstborn advantage in education even though parents in modern society
are more than likely to be egalitarian in the way they treat their
children.